Overview

Ian Rout won the Tasmanian Open undefeated on a score of 5 from 6 recording 4 wins and 2 draws. In rounds 4 and 5 Ian (No.2 seed) met stiff competition from the other top 3 seeds, Josh Loh and Kevin Bonham. No.1 Seed Joshua Loh was absent in the last round due to work commitments but had accrued enough points to secure outright second. In a pair of last round upsets Reg Harvey (1652) defeated Denis McMahon (1781), and Ian Little (1465) defeated Kevin Bonham (1918); as a result, Reg and Ian shared equal 3rd place.

The U1750 prize was combined with 3rd place, and the U1500 prize cascaded down to John O'Mara on 3 from 6. Special mentions and incentive prices were also given to Andrew Smith and William Rumley for their performances. Despite not recording a win William earned the respect of the playing field with his principled play and enthusiasm towards analysis. Andrew's fearless exchange sacrifices and attacking play also gained notice. We look forward to their play in future tournaments.

Tasmanian Open List of Players

Tasmanian Open Final Scores

Tasmanian Open 2015 Crosstable

Round 1

The first round of the Tasmanian Open saw some short games, some long games, and an upset. Ian Little fell to Denis McMahon in only 13 moves and David Rolph conquered John O’Mara in a long game that saw both players under 2 minutes at one stage. Under time pressure O’Mara lost a pawn. With an outside passed pawn Rolph was able to win O’Mara’s remaining piece to be King and Bishop against a lone King with both sides having equal pawns.

McMAHON, Denis (1781) - LITTLE, Ian (1465) [C52]

Tasmanian Open 2015 Havenview Primary School (1.4), 06.06.2015

9. ... d6 is the move here, freeing the light squared bishop and staying in the game.

10.Qd5 Nxc3 11.Qxf7+ Kh8 12.Qh5 d5 13.Ng5 (diagram right)

13. ... Bf5 was the intended defence to mate on h7, but it fails to the fork on f7. With no defence to both threats, and not enough counter play, the game was over.

1–0

Round 2

Going into Round 2, Loh, Rout, Bonham, Lewis, McMahon, Rolph, Harvey, and Rumley had all secured a point. Ian Rout defeated Reg Harvey and Ian Little recovered to defeat Patrick Grace. Nigel Lewis and Kevin Bonham played an interesting game resulting in Bonham having 2 doubled pawns and a lone rook, against Lewis’ lone knight and single pawn with Bonham eventually winning. Dylan Kuzmic missed a win against Felix Ellis, and had to settle with a draw by perpetual, game below.

34. ... Rf1–+ White must now defend the f2 square or else black will invade.

35.Ng3 Qc6 36.Nh5 Qd6+

½–½

Round 3

The morning after the night that was the state Lightning Championships started with a bang. Ian Little was involved in another miniature, though this time he was on the winning side against Dylan Kuzmic. Top seed Josh Loh defeated Kevin Bonham after Kevin panicked in time pressure and lost from a winning position. Junior Andrew Smith scored the point against Noel O'Mara in a well played Nimzo-Indian shown below.

Faster is 34...Qf4+ 35.Rg3 (35.Kh1 Re1+ 36.Rg1 Rexg1#) 35...Qxg3+ 36.Kh1 Re1#, but speed isn't everything and after the game line a mating attack was imminent.

35.Qxg2 Qf4+ (diagram right)

0–1

Round 4

3 down and 3 to go, competition was warming up heading into round 4 with the top 2 seeds Josh Loh and Ian Rout fighting it out on board 1. Both the top seeds were undefeated on 3 points with 6 players hot on their heals with 2. Largely round 4 saw the white pieces conquer with 5 out of 6 decisive results going white's way. The only game to go black's way was the O'Mara derby on board 6 where Noel defeated his brother John with the black pieces in a yet another miniature.

Tasmanian Open 2015 Havenview Primary School (4.6), 07.06.2015

An unfortunate game losing blunder, white will regain the piece with interest and prove his sacrificial ideas were worth it.

16. ... Nxd5 (diagram right)

When the knight on e4 is lost else white is mated or loses the queen.

0–1

Round 5

Round 5 (the evening round) saw the competition heating up even more as the 2nd and 3rd seeds battled it out on board 2 and fought to a draw. A double blunder meant a winning continuation for white went unnoticed. Ian Little was catapulted to board 1 against Josh Loh, and put up a decent fight until a late-in-the-day blunder saw him drop a rook and allow mate in 2. Denis McMahon confronted Andrew Smith on board and endured an early exchange sacrifice in a French Advanced to come out on top. The game was exciting and is shown below.

This is a gutsy exchange sacrifice; while black will get a piece and 2 pawns for his rook, the plan is a long term one. The aim is to remove the key knight and shatter the queenside pawn structure with the aim of running the central and queenside majorities later in the game.

Position after sideline 12. ... Qd6

With such little kingside development, removing a defender from the queenside is a bold move. With correct play black can simply take a second pawn in the centre with some safety. If he does this he'll be 2 pawns up in the centre, and still have options for a thematic exchange sacrifice later in the game. The challenge after that is for black to develop on the kingside before being trapped or mated in the centre of the board. 11...Qxe5 12.Re1 Qd6 (diagram right). But if he can do this, he'll simply be 2 pawns up with a very solid central pawn structure.

A rare case of the king being better off in the centre of the board. Black needs to dislodge the pesky dark-squared bishop, and then place his king on the safe d7 square, but the immediate 20. ... Nc8 is not possible as it leads to a crushing attack.

21.Rxb7 Bxb7 22.Bb5+ Qd7 23.Qxc8+ Bxc8 24.Rxc8#

20. ... Bb6 looks to be a better idea with thoughts of Bc7 to free blacks position, but it fails to 21.a5 when the penetration on the b7 square, along with attacks along the a4–e8 diagonal are decisive; in all variations black goes down a piece or worse.

Position after sideline 26. Qxa5

21. ... Bxa5

21. ... Bc7 22.Bxe7

22.Qc5 Bxd6 23.exd6 Nf5 24.Rxb7 Bxb7 25.d7+ Qxd7 26.Bb5

22. ... Kxe7

22. ... Qxe7 23.Rxb7 Bxb7 24.Qxc7 Qxc7 25.Rxc7 0–0

23.Rxb7 Bxb7 24.Qxc7+ Qxc7 25.Rxc7+ Kd8 26.Rxb7

22.Rxb7 Bxb7 23.Qa4+ Bc6

23. ... Kf8 24.Bxe7+ Kxe7 25.Qa3+ Ke8 26.Bb5+

24.Rxc6 0–0

Position after sideline 22. ... Kxe7

24. ... Nxc6 25.Qxc6+ Qd7 26.Qa6 Bb6 27.Bb5

25.Bxe7 Qxe7 26.Qxa5 (diagram above)

Probably the best try is 20...f6 but this still leads to complications with white coming out on top.

21.exf6

21.Qd1 fxe5

21. ... 0–0 22.Bxh7+ Kxh7 23.Qxd4

22.Bxe5 Bxe5 23.Qh5+ g6 24.Qxe5 0–0

21. ... Qxd6 22.fxe7 Kxe7 (diagram right)

21.Bxh7+ Kh8 22.Rb4 f5 23.Rxd4 Kxh7 24.Qd2 Ng6

24. ... Re8 25.Rc3 Nc8 26.Rh3+ Kg6 27.Bc5 is still ugly for black, but better than the game continuation.

Position after 29. Rh3

25.Bxf8 Qxf8 26.f4 Qe7 27.Rc3 Kg8 28.Qe2 Qh4 29.Rh3? (diagram left)

White plays one of those heart skipping mistakes and allows black to equalise with tricky knight tactics. A better try would have been 29.g3, and black can resign.

29. ... Nxf4 30.Rxh4 Nxe2+ 31.Kf2 Nxd4 32.Rxd4=

The position has equalised, but it's not a simple position to hold for either side.

The final mistake, white gives back the exchange and runs with the e pawn.

41.Rxd5 exd5 42.e6

1–0

Round 6

The final round was blown wide open when it was revealed that top seed Joshua Loh could not play due to work commitments. Josh Loh was leading the field on 4.5 from 5 with second seed Ian Rout only half a point behind, and third seed Kevin Bonham only half a point behind him. Behind the leaders group were 4 people on 3 from 5. With all the top seeds having played each other already, it was looking likely that the group of players on 3 would be matched against the top seeds with odds on the final placings being: 1st Loh (5.5), 2nd Rout (5), and 3rd Bonham (4.5). With the top seed out of action for the final round, all bets were off.

This is tactically not the best, but it gives black several questions to answer, and has some hidden venom if misplayed.

Diagram after sideline 28. ... Nc4

26. ... Ke7

Black could simply take the bishop and weaken the queenside pawns, but this will only delay the inevitable. 26...Bxb5 27.axb5 Bb6 28.Ra6 Nc4 (diagram right) and white can soon dominate with his rook after checking on the back rank and making an attempt to clean up the kingside pawns, or simply march his own king up to dislodge the c4 knight.

27.Bxd7 Kxd7 28.Rd1 Kc7 29.Kf1 Ne4 30.Rd3!

White holds onto the 2 pawns and activates his rook at the same time. Given time white will put his king on an active square on the queenside, and then try to freeze the kingside pawns before marching the queenside ones through.

30. ... Nxf2??

Position after 38. g3

Black blunders into either a lost king and pawn endgame, or drops material saving his minor pieces.